


You Can Have it All

by Howland



Category: Chronicles of Riddick (2004)
Genre: Community: smallfandomfest, Dame Vaako Bashing, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-01-14
Updated: 2010-01-14
Packaged: 2017-10-06 07:00:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/50952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Howland/pseuds/Howland
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Riddick confuses Vaako with a cryptic offer, and that pisses Vaako off.</p>
            </blockquote>





	You Can Have it All

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: An Offer you can't Refuse

Vaako blasted through the door to his quarters, his eyes bright with distress and his new Lord Marshall’s words still echoing in his head.

“You can have it.”

He had no idea what the man was playing at.

His wife looked up disinterestedly from where she lounged on a chaise, her thin legs crossed delicately to show off her hip all the better. She opened her mouth to say something scathing but Vaako didn’t stop to listen; he was in no mood to humor her. The door to their bedroom slammed resoundingly behind him and he locked it with a touch to the keypad, knowing she could not override his authority without getting the Lord Marshall involved and she wouldn’t dare advertise the slipping control she held over her husband.

“You can have it. All of it.”

He sank onto the edge of the bed and dropped his head into his hands with a huff of air that wasn’t quite a sigh. The man didn’t have a clue.

If Dame Vaako got wind of this offer her harping wouldn’t cease until Vaako had taken power. It would be strange for the Necromongers to experience a shift in leadership without an assassination, but many things had been changing lately and he didn’t think anyone would mind terribly as long as Riddick was off the dais. No, that wasn’t the problem. The trouble arose when he remembered looking into Riddick’s eyes and hearing those words and realizing with a shock that what Riddick was offering was something Vaako was no longer so sure that he wanted.

His Lord’s personal chambers had been dark and from the shadows the man’s eyes had been gleaming with a calculation devoid of malice. The piercing silver had made the moment all the more distressing thrusting Vaako into a turmoil of thought. 

He’d fled the man’s rooms without reply.

Pulling his head back startled, Vaako glanced down at his palms and realized they were sweating. Wiping them viciously on his thighs, he shuddered and rose, moving quickly to the bathing chamber. Throwing cold water on his face, he held his breath for a long moment before looking up at his dripping reflection. He was sickened by the fear he could see in his eyes.

“You can have it all.”

Shutting them he sank to his knees in front of the sink, pressing his forehead against the cool black marble and hoping for relief from the pain of realization. 

"I don’t understand." He growled to the empty room. “Riddick, what are you doing to me?”

\--

If Riddick was angry with him for his abrupt departure the day before, he hid it well when Vaako entered his chambers in the morning to go over the man’s itinerary for the day. 

The load was light what with most everyone except essential personnel and their spouses being in cryosleep. Riddick wasn’t interested and he waved away Vaako’s explanations of various tasks impatiently. For once, Vaako didn’t have the energy to get irritated.

Riddick kicked out the chair next to him at the long table, and Vaako sank into it, feeling wary but hollow. The chambers were silent save for the sound of a pair of hellhounds cleaning each other in the corner contentedly. If their master was agitated, they didn’t show it, but the female did glance a Vaako with an oddly intelligent gaze when he shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

“Don't usually get to see you fidget, Vaako.”

Gritting his teeth Vaako stilled and looked away from his Lord Marshall. “I beg your pardon my Lord Riddick, I did not sleep well.”

There was a smirk in Riddick’s voice when he asked “Your wife still bitchin’ you out?”

Vaako shrugged. “It is not of any real concern.” 

An apple appeared in Vaako's line of sight, the fruit proffered by a broad hand with blunt nails and strong fingers. He took it with a wary nod gratitude. 

Since Riddick had unwillingly assumed control of the necromonger fleet, Vaako had met with him nearly every morning to go over everything from personnel assignments to supply logs to the everyday tasks required of a conquerer. The first few days had been tense and uneasy, then Vaako had snapped.  Blinded by frustrated rage, he'd tried to dig Riddick’s demon eyes out with a table knife and the Lord Marshall had responded by throwing him down and breaking both his wrists.  For most, this would have done little to improve relations, but for the two warriors the air had been cleared.

Now Vaako didn’t know if he’d call them friendly, but they understood each other and, to an extent, they enjoyed each other’s company.

They ate in silence for a time, Vaako staring blearily at the black table top wondering if maybe he had taken Riddick’s words the day before too seriously. Perhaps the man had just been playing head games with him.  Again.  It was clear enough that he took pleasure in catching Vaako off balance.  

Riddick’s deep voice snapped him out of his thoughts. 

“Whatever. I hear she’s been getting around.”

Vaako’s brow furrowed. “Excuse me?”

Riddick paused to chew a mouthful of apple before continuing. “Your wife.” He swallowed loudly. “I hear your wife has been slinking around like a dog in heat. How’s that working out?”

Vaako stood so quickly his chair feel backwards, his eyes furious. “She is none of your concern!”

A slow smile stretched across Riddick’s face, and then he laughed. “You don’t even like the bitch, what’s got you so worked up?”

Fighting the urge to growl, Vaako broke eye contact and turned around to pick up the chair. “She is just one number of many on a growing list of problems.” He slammed the chair back onto it’s four legs and gripped the back of it, seething. “And I heard nothing of this before you mentioned it. I have been... preoccupied.”

“I’ve been keeping you busy.” Riddick pulled off his goggles. He didn’t need them in his personal chambers with the lights turned low, but he wore them from time to time anyway, seemingly just to keep Vaako on guard. The necromonger fumed.

“If I may speak bluntly, my Lord Marshall, briefing you on every aspect of Necromonger society has hardly been an easy task. You’ll forgive me if I’ve been too lenient with my wife. If you’re sure she’s been-”

“I’m sure.”

Vaako grit his teeth. “Then I will do my best to bring her into line Lord Marshall. Is there anything-”

“Tell me Vaako, why’d you ever marry that psycho?”

The first among commanders held his breath, his eyes boring into Riddick’s with a desperate anger. At length the silence became too pregnant and Vaako gritted out “It was expected.” He paused, and then added. “She was very beautiful.”

Riddick smirked. “Beauty always has its way, don’t it?”

“I was naive, she was ambitious and saw in me a certain potential. For that, we made a perfect match.” Vaako wasn’t sure why he told Riddick this. The words spilled past his lips unbidden, painful and perfectly formed and a touch too bitter for his liking. 

Riddick lost the smirk and regarded Vaako with an unreadable expression on his face. “Why keep her around?”

With a sigh, Vaako sat down in the chair heavily, feeling defeated. “Necromongers do not permit divorce. And I can’t kill her. We keep what we kill, but what would I get if I killed the Dame Vaako? Nothing. Then the kill becomes unacceptable. It becomes murder. I would be cast out, perhaps even promoted before my due time.”

Riddick said nothing. He pulled a knife from the sheath on his forearm and speared a fruit. He gazed at it with an expression which must have been thoughtful for him. After awhile he held it back over the bowl and flicked his wrist, dropping the apple back with the others.

“Have you given my offer any thought, Vaako?”

The Necromonger’s skin turned even icier than usual and he stiffened. He hadn’t expected that. “My Lord, I...”

Turning his silvered irises upon his First, Riddick stared at the usually eloquent man who now found himself at a loss for words. For once in his life, Vaako had no idea what to say. 

Nevertheless he swallowed hard and pushed on. “My dame, she cannot... I cannot allow her to become the right hand of the Lord Marshall.”

Riddick snorted. “Don’t want her to be.”

The ex-convict picked up a new apple and set it down in front of himself, carefully cut it in two, and offered Vaako the bottom half. Distracted, Vaako accepted and bit into it without question. Looking down to stare at the half of the fruit he kept for himself, Riddick kept silent for a long time.

The male hellhound rose and sauntered over to it’s master, it’s mouth open slightly, it’s eye’s glinting in the low light. Riddick cut the fruit in half again and offered a piece to the cat, the animal sniffed it and took it from Riddick’s fingers in a way which seemed almost too delicate for a predator. The lord marshall rested his cheek on his fist as he studied the cat, and then looked up to study Vaako. Still eating slowly, the necromonger looked tired and more disheveled than Riddick could ever remember seeing him. He smiled, and picked up his own piece of the fruit, eating it just as slowly as Vaako.

He licked his fingers clean when he had finished, a look of conviction now adorning his features. “I think you can handle that list of yours on your own. I want you in navigation today. All day. Got it?”

Vaako looked confused. “My Lord?”

“Get out of here. I have shit I need to do.”

Startled, Vaako rose quickly, bowed, and left his Lord’s quarters, making tracks for the nerve center of the ship. 

He was several corridors away before a bubble of anger rose in his chest. While it wasn’t unusual for Riddick to relegate certain tasks to him, the man hadn’t ever just dumped an entire day’s work on his shoulders without warning. Maybe he intended to give his position to Vaako regardless of Vaako’s consent and he was trying to get him used to being in power? The first among commanders frowned as he rounded a corner. No, that didn’t seem like Riddick. If he’d intended to give the position to Vaako without consideration of his answer, he never would’ve asked in the first place. Vaako scowled in frustration. If Riddick didn’t want to work, he didn’t work, but he’d never made Vaako pick up the slack like this. Granted today there was a pretty light work load, but still...

Growling, Vaako shook his head viciously to clear it. He should have been ashamed of himself. There had been a time when he wouldn’t have ever considered questioning his Lord Marshall’s orders, and now it seemed he was doing nothing but. Another thing he could thank his thrice damned wife for.

The doors to navigation slid open as he approached them, and Vaako’s let his stormy mood play clearly across his face. If he took some perverse pleasure in watching the crew shiver and begin to work all the harder, he didn’t let himself acknowledge it. Instead he stared blackly out at the endless stretches of space, doing his best to clear his mind and convince himself that whatever Riddick did, it would be for the best.

\--

Despite his anger, Vaako took Riddick’s orders to heart and didn’t leave his post until the early hours of the evening, stopping only once to eat a brief meal of protein spread and bread rations near mid day in a small ready room off the main deck. 

Now, as he made his way towards his quarters, he felt a sliver of unease creep into his blood. The halls, while never crowded, at the moment felt near deserted. On his trek from navigation to his rooms, he passed but a single electrical worker who offered him no more than a quick version of the dictated bow as she rushed by. He thought to contact Toal and ask him if something had occurred while he’d been stuck on the deck, but decided against it. All he really wanted was to sleep, and his quarters were just down the next corridor. If there was a true emergency, they knew where to contact him.

As he rounded the final corner he nearly turned around and walked back. In front of the doors to his chamber stood Commander Terk and a pair of guards. It was too late, they’d caught sight of him, and the Commander bowed to the First among them as Vaako set his jaw firm and continued forward. 

“Lord Vaako, First among commanders, if you would come with me we can-”

“What’s going on?”

Terk looked somewhat taken aback before he smoothed the reaction over. “Many have been temporarily woken from cryosleep as an Assembly of the Elite has been called. The Lord Marshall said to bring you when you had finished with your duties. If you would come with me-”

“I know the way, I do not need an escort.” Vaako’s voice was deadly quiet and the guards shifted uneasily. Terk just shook his head.

“The Lord Marshall gave me explicit instructions Commander. Please allow me to fulfill my duty.”

With a sharp gesture to Vaako, Terk set the party in motion, Vaako quietly seething at being directed so coarsely. He hardly needed an escort through the halls, it was patently ridiculous. 

When they reached the throne room Terk once again bowed low and gestured for the guards to stand aside. Clasping his superior’s shoulder briefly but companionably, Terk gave him a small nod. Leaning close, he murmured in a voice which was conspiratorially low. “May I be the first to offer some sort of congratulations my friend? Lord Riddick spoke with me briefly-”

Eyes narrowing Vaako started to ask the man to explain himself but the doors to the hall chose that moment to open, and Terk stepped back a respectful distance. Fighting off a scowl, Vaako stepped into the hall, making his way towards the throne where Riddick was lounging. Some members of the society around him murmured curiously as he passed, but he wasn’t interested in them. Whatever was going on was something of Riddick’s machinations, and he wanted answers. 

The dark man smiled at his approach, sitting forward to lean his elbows on his knees, his fingers steepled in front of his face. “Vaako.” He said quietly as the First drew close enough to hear. “Glad you could join us.”

“What the hell is going on Riddick?” Vaako hissed, his control fraying more and more by the second, his anger mounting. He hated being kept in the dark.

Bringing a finger to his lips in a gesture of silence, Riddick motioned for Vaako to stand next to him as he sank back into the chair again. Slowly the hall fell silent as one by one the assembled Necromongers noticed the change in their leader’s position. An air of tense speculation filled the room, and for a long minute, no one made a sound. Chancing a glance at Riddick, Vaako was startled to see him grinning like a maniac. Whatever emotions lay within his eyes were hidden behind his goggles, but Vaako was willing to chance a bet that it wasn’t joy that drove his expression. Perhaps something closer to sadism.

With a quick gesture, a side door was opened and two guards marched out.  A third, bedraggled figure hung limp between them. Vaako supposed it was a female from the length of the hair and the way each soldier was able to wrap his hand around the figure’s biceps easily. A new convert perhaps? Riddick had stalled all mass conversions, but converts still joined occasionally by their own volition. 

She was in a disheveled pair of black pants and a shirt which were the standard regs for the necromonger soldier when not in armor. Her bare feet and hands where stained with dried blood

With all attention now turned to the throne Vaako dared not look at the Lord Marshall. If the first among commanders was to show that he was unsure of his Lord’s practices, it would likely cause a surge of unrest in the population. Instead he gripped his hands tight behind his back and stood at attention next to his leader.

“Wake her up.” Riddick growled, his grin now subdued but still in place. One of the men hauled her up by the hair while the other slapped her into consciousness. Vaako’s eyes got huge as he caught sight of her face and he had to stifle a cry, every muscle in his body itching to jump down and fight the men who lay hands on her but his training telling him to stay still at his Lord’s side. This was Riddick’s doing, the Lord Marshall’s. It was not his place to question his orders.

The woman groaned as she came around, trying to curl up on herself until Riddick sneered and gestured to the guard to drag her into a kneeling position in front of the dais. She had been recognized, and a tumult of whispered exclamations passed through the crowd. Vaako’s blood boiled but he stayed where he was, it was his Lord’s orders.

“Dame Vaako.” Riddick began, Vaako imperceptibly wincing at the pure loathing which dripped from Riddick’s words. “You know why you’re here.”

As her eyes focused on Riddick the crowd grew silent. Vaako was sickened by her fear.

Riddick grinned. The man rose from his seat and strolled up to the woman, standing so close that she had to tilt her head back at a painful angle in order to meet his eye. 

“You,” His voice was low but deep enough that it resonated through out the hall “Have been conspiring against me.”

“No my Lord!” the pitch of her cry was shrill, her throat rough from what abuse Vaako did not know. “Never my Lord! Obedience without question! You have my loyalty until Underverse come!”

A hollow thump sounded as Riddick kicked her squarely in the chest, and the dame doubled over coughing, the wind knocked out of her. “You’ve been playing a dangerous game. Wrapping yourself around this ship like a snake, twisting everyone you can around your finger.” He crouched down and picked up her hand, admiring it. It was still beautiful despite the gore and the occasional broken nail. Face amused, he grabbed her middle finger and snapped it back so the knuckle touched the back of her hand. She tried to scream, but she didn’t have the breath. The skin and tendon tore at the front, a new trail of blood oozing down her palm. Vaako clasped his hands tighter together. 

“Lady, you did not know who you were fucking with.” Riddick stood and stared at her for a long moment before lifting his boot and catching her under the chin, throwing her head back with a kick to the throat. She landed hard on her back, winded again, her good hand clawing at her bruised neck. Vaako knew she wasn’t registering what was said anymore, the lack of oxygen was putting her close to black out. This was for Riddick’s benefit only. 

As Dame Vaako lay gasping on the floor like a dying fish, Riddick raised his head and looked around at the assembled elite of Necromonger society. “You have dealings with this bitch, you step forward _now_.” There was a pause and then several men threw themselves prostrate on the ground, their wives looking horrified, but not surprised. With a nod guards came forward and grabbed the men hauling them to their feet. “I’m promoting you mother fuckers for treason.” Faces blanching, the men began to struggle, but the guards’ blades were quick and they hit the ground, gurgling from the slashes to their throats, cool blood pooling beneath them on the black floor.

“And you.” Riddick murmured, his voice deadly quiet. He walked up to Dame Vaako’s head his face cold and blank as he glared down at her. “I’d have killed you even if you hadn’t pulled this shit. This way I just got to have a bit of fun with it.”

The woman’s hazy eyes slid over the knife Riddick kept in the sheath on his forearm and the man chuckled low in his throat. “Naw, you ain’t worth that. This is no promotion, this is a killing.” The crunch of her windpipe under his boot made several in the audience turn away, usually emotionless faces looking ill. For Vaako, the rage was suddenly absent. He felt nothing.

For a long moment it was silent before Riddick turned and walked back up to the dais. He faced Vaako silently, his own face impassive but full of meaning Vaako couldn’t quite process. Then he turned around and growled at the people. “You keep what you kill. Now get back in cryosleep and out of my fucking sight.”

The hall began to empty immediately, people one step short of running for the exits, making wide berths around the four blood soaked corpses spread about the room. Riddick’s jaw was set as he watched them struggle to leave. Then his hand was on the back of Vaako’s neck and he guided his first out the back exit which was his and his alone. The walk to Riddick’s quarters was silent, not even the guard dared to follow the Lord Marshall into his domain after a display like that. Vaako felt nothing.

\--

Riddick poured a glass of wine for each of them, the deep red liquid like blood in Vaako’s eyes. When the goblet was passed to him he tried to hold it steady but his hand shook badly and he set it down without taking a drink. Riddick downed his in three gulps. 

Vaako didn’t know where it came from, the surge of fury which boiled up in his throat like bile, his eyes darkened and his lips pulled back in a snarl. Purification was supposed to slough off the surface emotion in the Necromonger faithful, but the day had ben too intense, and things were breaking through. With a cry of rage he threw himself at Riddick, knocking both of them to the floor. He gained the upper hand through the element of surprise, his fist colliding with the darker man’s face, then his gut, then his ear, then his side. After a moment Riddick caught one hand that came to strike him, than the other, twisting his hips and rolling them so he had the advantage, pinning Vaako’s wrists over his head. He reached down to grab Vaako’s throat but the First howled and brought his knee up to smash into Riddick’s lower back twisting a hand free to try and strike his leader in the face before Riddick grunted deep in his throat and grabbed Vaako’s head in both his hands, slamming it into the ground, dazing the man into stillness.

From the sidelines the hellhounds growled, and Riddick looked up and growled back, sending them slinking out of the room, casting confused looks back at their master. Vaako panted heavily, unaware of the angry tears spilling from his eyes, seeing red as he glared at his Lord Marshall, too furious to speak. 

Riddick laughed low in his throat and leaned close to his first so their noses were almost touching. “Love it when you loose control Vaako. Reminds the animal why I stick around.”

Vaako tried to reply but the words stuck in his throat. 

“Confused Vaako?” Riddick taunted, a grin on his face. “That’s when you get angry, you know. I can do everything I can possible think of to piss you off but you only really loose it when I confuse you.”

“You always confuse me.” Vaako rasped out, his wrists pinned again in Riddick’s grasp. “Release me.”

“You gonna try that again?”

Vaako growled. “Yes.”

“Then no.”

It was a struggle for Vaako to catch his breath what with the weight of Riddick pressed against his chest. His lungs began to ache and his vision started to cloud at the corners. With a gasp he relaxed, dropping his head back to the floor, struggling to stay conscious. Appeased, Riddick let up slightly so the man would stay with him. Switching his grip on Vaako’s wrists to a single hand, he yanked his goggles off, his silvered demon eyes regarding Vaako with that unnerving stare. 

“You keep what you kill Vaako, isn’t that your motto?”

Vaako grit his teeth and shook his head. “Our motto, my Lord Riddick. You are a part of this now.”

“Whatever.” Riddick shrugged, his face coming close Vaako’s again. “You know what I get to keep Vaako?”

Vaako shook his head, slightly disoriented by his breathlessness. 

“I get to keep you.”

The world seemed to stall for a moment.  Everything was silent and Vaako felt numb. “What?”

“I. Keep. You.”

With a growl Vaako fought to focus on his Lord’s face. “I am not some trophy to be claimed! I am free, I am-”

“You’re mine.”

The growl faded from Vaako’s voice and he struggled to try and reverse their positions, but he felt oddly weak. “I belong to no one.” He ground out.

“ ‘Cept me.” Riddick’s grin was infuriating as he leaned in and sniffed at Vaako’s neck. “Dame didn’t deserve you, and she needed to die anyway. Can’t keep a minx like that walking around, not if you want to keep order.” He leaned back with a wicked look in his eye. “And you just fucking love order, don’t you Vaako?”

A strangled sort of whine escaped Vaako’s lips, much to his shock, and the look he shot Riddick was far more pathetic than he’d ever dare admit. “Damn you, what are you doing to me?”

Riddick’s smile disappeared, his face serious as he pulled back far enough for them to get a clear look at each other. “You consider my offer?” There was a pause where Vaako said nothing, a tiny light of understanding beginning to expand in his eyes. Riddick touched his cheek almost worshipfully. “You can have it Vaako. All of it.”

As Riddick released his wrists Vaako sat up so fast he nearly smashed his forehead into Riddick’s nose. The Lord Marshall sat back on his heels, watching Vaako as the synapses fired in his tired brain, drawing conclusions he couldn’t quite believe. “I thought you said-”

“It was an open ended statement.” Riddick murmured.

“So what you mean now isn’t what you meant-”

The dark man shook his head and stood up, extending a hand to Vaako who still sat dazedly on the floor. “Doesn’t matter Vaako. I need an answer now, an answer to what I’m asking _right now_.” He paused, and then let a smirk spread across his face, privy to some private joke he wouldn’t share. “Are you with me?”

Vaako took the hand and allowed himself to be helped to his feet. As he took in deep breaths he felt himself calm, the confusion retreating as Riddick’s words found purchase in his brain, processing them, taking them to heart. “You’re giving me a choice?”

Riddick laughed and it was not a pretty thing. “Say no and then we’ll see.”

Narrowing his eyes, Vaako studied Riddick cooly. “I am not a whore.”

A growl escaped Riddick’s throat. “That would have been your wife.”

“I will not be-”

Riddick stepped forward, placing a possessive hand at the small of Vaako’s back and, before the man could do anything about it, he grabbed Vaako’s chin and held it still as he kissed him hard. The pressure was bruising and invasive, possessive and powerful, the message clearly reading ‘this is mine.’ When he pulled back he growled. “I’m not looking for some fuck toy, I got plenty of zombies on this ship willing to fill that position.”

Vaako didn’t laugh. Riddick didn’t expect him to.

“What do you want?”

Riddick regarded him silently before he said low and quiet. “A mate.”

Vaako said nothing. 

A minute passed with their bodies pressed close together, Vaako registering vaguely how pleasant Riddick’s warmth was, how those hands which killed with such ease felt so gentle when they touched him. At other times in his life such distant realizations would have made him sick, but now...

Riddick had turned his world upside down. The Necromonger way would never be the same after the changes Riddick had ordered: the cessation of mandatory purifications, the executions of the quasi-dead, the personnel changes, the halt of forced conversions. The faith had been Vaako’s life, and Riddick had torn that away. In it’s stead he had made himself Vaako’s everything, appointing Vaako as his main conduit between himself and the rest of the armada, forcing the man to associate with him constantly, to understand the way he thought and the way he felt, to understand who he was better than anyone else on the ship. The First Among Commanders realized suddenly, painfully, that he had stopped being just Riddick’s First weeks ago and had somehow turned into something more. The change had been slow but there was no going back now. He was Riddick’s.

Reaching up slowly, Vaako wrapped a hand around Riddick’s throat, feeling the hot pulse of life that surged through his arteries, marveling at how close the man held him, how open he left himself in this position. It would have been so easy to kill him now, to take everything for himself.

Everything that Riddick was already offering.

“I need an answer Vaako.”

The vibrations of his voice felt strange under Vaako’s fingers, and he slid his hand down Riddick’s front so it instead rested on his chest.

“My Lord...” He began quietly, but his voice was too hoarse, his throat too dry. Licking his lips, he turned his face up to Riddick with his eyes sharp and unusually bright in the low light. The room was cool beyond them, dark enough that Vaako could not see. He could only register the man in front of him, The Lord Marshall, The Furyan, _Riddick._ 

“My Lord," His voice was still low, but this time it was perfectly perfectly clear. "How could I refuse?”


End file.
